


Revelation

by thornsofvariousflowers



Category: Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Angst, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, I have not decided yet, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-01
Updated: 2017-07-29
Packaged: 2018-11-22 01:50:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11370054
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thornsofvariousflowers/pseuds/thornsofvariousflowers
Summary: Universe is strangely designed sometimes. With all the knowledge speculations may not turn out to be the only truth. People may not turn out to be who they seem to be. Feelings may appear where they less expected to be.





	1. 1/

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, people.
> 
> Posting my first work here with great help from my dear friend phocavolans as beta reader and editor of my writing.
> 
> First three chapters is from Sara's POV. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy it. Even if just a little)

Waking up in a new galaxy is like being born again, only older and having all you experience from the other life at hand. The people you quarreled with – dead. Your previous records aside from the one in current database – gone. You can be a new person, and having something of a new life, new possibilities you would never have back in Milky Way.

Pioneers who ran away from their past, just to make something on the blank page with a few scribbles of initial predisposition. Sara came to Andromeda for that - to create her own future, with no decisions involved in the process but her own.  
Her aim was to chase, to gather, to expand. Adventures she would never come by on Citadel. Experience she wanted to have all by herself, not through video or reports. Maps where most of the space is left grey, only the point of extraction is marked in the middle. 

Alec Ryder’s spirit was strong in her too. Making her accept any possible consequences of the actions that lead to a desired goal. The only difference between them was that she would never put her family at such disadvantage as he did. Her research went into the trash bin along with her brother’s career thanks to the goal her father made possible to achieve. The goal initially only he cared about, and in the end, all of them started to care too. Without AI technology there would be no Andromeda Initiative, no pioneers, no new lives.

And still she couldn’t let herself forgive Alec. Not for the lost chances, not only for them. She never felt connected to him, as she was to mom and Scott, not really felt the need for such connection. He was more like a stranger who came from time to time for a dinner party. 

Sara didn’t want a new life. She wanted her life to be something worth living, after her honest attempts to discover were buried under family disgrace.  
They came so far to meet their dreams and make them reality. Or face nightmares where they least expect them.

Thankfully making nightmares less scary is her hobby to say at least. Helping people, making difference, changing the circumstances to one’s benefit and having some fun in the process – that’s what makes life spectacular. Books she have read had good examples in them on a matter of hero’s path.

No books contained the feelings she experienced the moment she realized her brother was not going to wake up. Not any time soon.  
Horror, maybe. Something stone cold in her guts.

Sara was in the weaponry, getting ready for extraction, checking her armor, before the team really get down to business. Her worry would never affect her performance, her hands will be steady, whatever it takes. But all lightness was suppressed by the worry she never thought would occurred. 

“You brother will hate that he missed it,” Cora was looking for her pistol, checking armor joints on the way. 

“Not really. He is more up for quiet exploration, not emergency situations.” Sara wasn’t sure if she forgot to pack her shotgun or that somebody just looted it. Frustrated, she simply closed her locker with a loud thud. 

“I thought all Ryders were adrenaline junkies” Cora looked at her with a subtle smile – only one she always used.

“I think he is more like our mother. Science type, technician. Always alone in the corner with his toys.” her snort told everything about how she felt about it. She always tried to get Scott out to some kind of a party, but he was always busy, always too tired or had some other excuse. So eventually she gave up on trying to make his social life better and let him do his thing.

“He is going to be okay, you know. He is more stubborn than your old man.” – Cora gave her a hug, and Sara was grateful that this woman had her back all the time, on and off the field.  
What happened to Scott never should have happened. As well as the planets they were heading to should not have been in non-livable state. But her brother is in coma, due to the malfunction of his stasis pod, caused by a disaster they now had a very clear view on. What to the planets…there was no way to expect all their golden worlds not at all being golden. Nobody took this scenario in consideration. Not Jien Garson. Not her father. She was not ready for that either.

Pioneers were supposed to have everything to start a new life. Now they had to fight even for things needed for basic functioning. Which, considering the resources they needed being on a planet with no stable atmosphere, was not an easy task. But that was the task she could perform, whatever the risks, it was still possible. She felt mighty against the physical obstacles, because when it came to Scott’s state, she was absolutely helpless. “I need you sharp.” her father said. Like she ever wasn’t. Sharp is her second name at this point. She always stays sharp, especially in the shittiest situations. Troubles fuel her inner determination, to overcome, to become something more powerful than any obstacles in sight. 

The biggest obstacle was right in front of them. Troubles that could make her engine runs for hundred years without refill. 

Sara wasn’t expecting a fall, not to mention the one with a malfunctioned jump-jet, all the way to the solid ground of hostile planet. She screams, but then she laughs, and then she is fascinated. And terrified.

“No way this is home.”

The problem is it should have been. And Sara is optimist at heart, always strived to be, handling things on the go, just like her father did. But there is one problem will always be the second one. Alec Ryder had not enough time in Andromeda to set things right. He made a first step, but then, somebody else had to do it, and he was also the one to choose who it will be. 

He made his choice clear when he put his helmet on Sara’s head, stopping her suffocating grasps. Not clear for his daughter, not at all, as she fell into blackness moments after. 

“He chose you”. Cora said, when Sara woke up in a SAM node, demanding answers which were hard to for Cora deliver. Especially to Ryder’s face.t. They all were there, acting like she was made of glass, just to remind her seconds later of the responsibilities she now had as a Pathfinder. Go and do it. Luckily she was okay with this.

As tempting as it may seem she never wanted this role to fall on her. Never dreamed of it, never considered such a possibility. It was as unthinkable as finding out you’ve become a hanar one morning as you woke up. Strange tickling in her brain seemed to confirm asari doctor’s words. AI was now intertwined with her brains on a level she was not sure she understood.

Whatever made Alec Ryder do that he did she didn’t want to know, but when SAM said he had her father’s memories locked in his program, curiosity was the only thing to push her to find something to trigger the lock. Even though she knew she would regret it. The man was a closed book with a very heavy cover on it. And Sara was sure okay with the things as they were. 

Her feelings were not so much considered in any social interactions she had lately. Be it a crew of the Hyperion, other pioneers just like her. Or the Nexus leadership she had a “pleasure” to deal with after the human arc made its way to one of the space station’s docks. The view from the windows was not a hopeful one from the start. The mood inside was similar to the view. People who had gone through a lot, she figured, still did not want to accept her as their ultimate chance of survival. This attitude could cut up her spirit instantly. Instead it made her intention to prove them wrong stronger than ever. She hoped the rest of them will follow eventually.  
It took so little to break their hopes, to make a dream an unreachable goal. Sara never seemed to suffer the lack of optimism. It always radiated from her like confidence was radiating from her father. 

As Tempest crew grew, their chances to succeed became better, climbing up as fast as they were travelling from planet to planet and restoring the atmosphere of the worlds.

Everybody on the Nexus cheered and congratulated them. More than a half was not sure that it was true. Eyes were bright with hope, and it maked Sara smile and set a good mood for the rest of the day which not even Addison was able to destroy. To Ryder’s surprise Director did not even try: if there was a cinder of hope somewhere deep inside the Colonial director, it slowly began to come to life again. 

“What’s Scott’s status?” She asks SAM, as she walks through the station, full of people, chatting and shopping, sometimes giving her looks which made her think that something is wrong with her face. She does not really care. Vetra showed her all the places where good stuff can be purchased, and also showed places where she could drink herself stupid. Sara likes the idea, especially as SAM’s response is still “no change”. Scott was still somewhere far away. So she grabs Drack and Liam – her favorite part of the crew who does not mind any level of drunk and happened to be nearby – for a couple of high quality bar stuff. 

She felt a pang of regret next morning, like she did every time the wave of a hangover headache engulfed her. She walked out of the ship to a crowd of aliens that looked like a..she couldn’t even describe them, maybe later, when she tells Scott everything about this day and how quickly everything is becoming stranger and stranger. But no less exciting. 

With every world they visit and evaluated excitement is still here, a shine of hope becomes more frequent in the eyes of the people they meet. More questions as always, more than they have answers. A lot for Tann and other Nexus bunch to think about. A lot for Pathfinder to experience first hand. Sara never though she would like the job so much.

Though she does not like the answers.

She is pissed off about them, about exaltation and all, about not being able to do anything, about waking up in a galaxy where things are more messed up than in her own. She needs to talk to Scott, she always does when things go way out of hand. They talked and drank sometimes, but every time they drank Scott ended up under the table trying to flirt with a bartender, and she always found a way to make him remember his pitiful attempts. Thinking about it made her smile despite all the worries. Stupid little brother who gets drunk so easily. The urge to check on him became something like an obsessive thought.

Going through the Hyperion halls she never thought it would be so painfully nostalgic to see familiar faces. Harry smiles at her and asks about the progress, as if here on Nexus news did not travel even faster than her ship.

Sara sits near her brother, taking his hand, talking and talking, trying to tell him anything not revealing too much. She could sit there forever, she knows, only two of them, what was left of the Ryder family, but SAM decides he gave them enough time before he informs her of a new lead. Kadara Port – exile heaven, also a trading spot. She lets go of Scott’s hand, still feeling the lingering warmth on her fingers.

“See you soon.”

She nods goodbye to Harry, knowing he would not mind her slipping away without further conversation.


	2. 2/

Kadara is beautiful. This port is a painting of abstract colors and ideas. Scum and trash forms a place where everyone could be a pirate if they are fast and smart enough. Sun is splashing gold on everything metal and glass, which is a majority in port’s structure. Kett’s heads at the entrance do not count as something pretty, but even they look astonishing in the soft orange light.

“The contact is called Shena. Rendez-vous at ‘Kralla’s song’.” Evfra informed her as she was still on the ship, examining the approach. 

‘Kralla’s song’ sounded like nothing special, but finding this bar turns out to be a pain in the ass. The port isn’t big, but the doors are hard to override, and by the time they open she forgets what is their direction. It drives her crazy maybe even more than the Archon himself.

Shena turned out not to be an Angara. Not even looking up she can hear it in thick accent no one but the human could have.

“You look like you are waiting for someone.”

It gets her attention immediately, the sheer tone of this line. She turns her head in the direction of the sound and meets face to face with the man. He is already busy with the drinks bartender poured for him in a matter of seconds. The look on his face suggests an easy-going communication. But Sara knows better than falling for a pirate’s charm. Even though he gives out zero hostility she examines him attentively, estimating how fast he could move in a threatening situation. His moves are gracious and stable – no room for a self-conscious. She likes it so she lets him lead. Cautiously.

“I think I have time for a drink” she stops studying him and just enjoys the view. Shena, or how he preferred to be called – Reyes, is easy on the eyes. Not actually her type, but worth a try anyway. Reyes informs her about anything she should know about angara Vehn, who they supposed to be executed by the ruler of Kadara for treason. Sloan Kelly is not a woman to argue with, but Sara herself was not either. He tells her to try anyway, as he is contacting Resistance to find out what they could do next in case she fails to persuade the Queen.

Literally Sara would rather simply put a bullet in Sloane’s head. Her patience for uncooperative people is stretched thin since dealing with Evfra back on Aya. He at least was worried about his people as Sloane’s only concern is how stable her ass is in her pompous chair.

Pehaps mr. Vidal had more success. 

“I hope so” Sara mutters under her nose making her way out of the Sloane’s chambers. 

Vidal is waiting for her outside, arms crossed and gaze determine, with the confidence of the man who knew beforehand how things would go.

“No such luck” she tells him grumpily, hoping not to sound rude. He is a nice person and an ally and Nexus ally in the place like this is a rare treasure. So her outbursts could really wait. 

He chuckles.

“Don’t worry, I found a workaround”

“You are a hero in a shining armor or what” she laughed at herself, not remembering the time she ever was saved by somebody. Her brother does not count. Maybe her father would fit in a chart. Only sacrificing himself was not a part of the plan and made a lot of complications on her way to actual pathfinding. Not a perfect scenario in any way possible. Others do not ever had a chance. This time she could easily come back and make a deal with Sloane if she wished to. 

“I would prefer ‘the man who has a lot of talents,’” Reyes smiled at her, charming and at the same time purely business-like, making her wonder if he was just playing the role he assigned himself to in Andromeda. Or he was simply lying right to her face.

“Charming,” – her brother would say, and get back to work not giving another glance to him. 

There was hardly a less ‘his type’ of a person in the whole Andromeda than Reyes Vidal. What made mr. Vidal a perfect match for herself.

Sara always liked playing with danger. She liked the thrill – total adrenaline junkie as much as her father was. Her wits are in better shape that way.

“I am intrigued,” she was still looking right into his eyes the color of expensive scotch back in the Milky Way. –“What’s the plan?”

“I’ll send access codes to your omni-tool . Evfra wants Vehn alive, so as you come inside, give him this – that’ll eat through whatever is holding him in and it can’t be tracked back to us.” – he extended her the thing – “Resistance will be waiting to pick him up.”  
“Wonderful,” 

She started on her way to the point but lingered. Debated with herself for a moment.

“There’s still a matter of that bill you left me with.”

He did not show any signs of disturbance in his conscience.

“I’m usually a model gentleman.”

Sara quirked a brow, not impressed either.  
“I don’t believe you.”

“Because I am lying.”

His wicked smile was the best thing she saw in Andromeda so far. Besides pure optimism. She already liked the guy – it is great having something fresh after all this uptight political pessimists club also known as Nexus leadership.

“Working with you has been…enlightening.” she says him at last, not really wanting to part, hoping that maybe later they could have a drink in a local bar.

“For both of us.” he answers “When you’re done, come to Tartarus. First round’s on me.”

This is the best part of her job, really.


	3. Chapter 3

Kadara is one hell of a breathtaking landscape. It still does not beat Havarl for her, but as they travel through the high spikes of the mountains her sight can’t settle on anything in particular, always wandering to find some more beauty in the orange painted cracks and dark brown leaves.

They find transponder that Vehn used to communicate with the kett, not in a good state, but still useful to locate the Archon ship which possibly could give them a lift to Meridian, whatever it is, to a new hope instead of one that was lost months ago. Not for Sarah, as she is doing all the work and sees the progress, sacrifices and threats by her own eyes. It will work out. Otherwise her father died for nothing, along with Jien Garson. Unfair things happen, but not on her watch, not when she has the power to change them.

“SAM, what’s Scott’s status?”

Sara is sitting in her quarters on the Tempest, looking up information on Sloane Kelly and with it something about Reyes Vidal. She feels sick of all the dry facts and corrupted files. She would have liked some good news, for a change.

_No change._

She groaned and came back to the terminal, now having Reyes file on the screen. Pilot, but nothing specific.

_Worry is unnecessary. I will inform you of any changes._

“I know, SAM, but necessity does not always define human emotions.” she answers to a blue sphere, shutting down the screen and standing up, stretching the body.

She knows shooting something would help. Fortunately for her there are still remaining kett groups on Kadara, - which displeases its queen quite a lot. Her right hand, Kaetus, asked the Pathfinder to find out where they were and destroy them before they become a threat to the current leadership.

It’s a matter of commodity that Tartarus – the club and the bar and who-else-know-what – is right in sight from the elevator taking people up and down to Slumps. Sara mutters under her breath as she is searching for Reyes’ location, dodging dancing customers everywhere. She never liked dancing and even hated when she was pushed to do it. Scott, on the other hand, was very good at dancing, even considering the fact that he only danced when he was profoundly drunk. She liked to tease him about those “performances” afterwards.

Without any knocking SAM simply overrides the door security, and they are stepping inside. She did forget how handsome Vidal is after all that time they were rolling over the wasteland grounds. 

Reyes gives all the information they needed plus a bit of the usual flirting which she is sure to reciprocate. He enjoys the second part as much as she did, Sara just knows it without even asking. Subtlety is not one of his forte, apparently, otherwise she must’ve become so good at reading people that nothing can challenge her anymore, and that isn’t the case. Turian’s expressions are still a pain in her ass, no matter how much time she spends with Vetra. 

The smuggler isn’t at a navpoint location he sent them after short investigation she and her squad had made on the matter. He appears minutes after, before Pathfinder is mutilated by the bunch of angara fanatics, with a loud explosion following, busted most of the confidence in their lines.

Reyes does not smile when they are finished. And neither does she. The tension around – she doesn’t like it. The reason for this bloodshed and for previous murders is not a rightful one if not to say ignorant and stupid. Still she looks at him and finds herself at ease, enough for something nice to say. 

“We make a good team.”

Moments after he is too close, almost bumping into her, their shoulders brushing. He stops for a moment to say “Careful. I’ll start thinking you like me”.

She wants to chuckle but his eyes are serious and the same time seductive, the desire for something more overcomes her bad humor.

“Would that be so bad?” if not for Cora and Jaal, politely busying themselves with body examining, she would tell him something far more interesting.

“Depends. Don’t be a stranger, Pathfinder.” He moves to the exit.

“The name is Sara. In case you’re wondering” she says over the shoulder, not much bothering to stop him. She knows they would meet soon enough.

 

===

 

After a month away from the port, she sets her feet on the warm ground only to run another errand to check out kett population growing in the mountains. This time she also wants to check the monoliths around the area, to look into what could be done for Kadara environment to become livable enough. They have an outpost on Eos but that isn’t enough, she knows it herself even though Addison never failed to enlighten her on that topic. Like she cares about talking. She cares about acting. Changing things. So she heads to Tartarus to calm down and distract herself with a bit of good quality flirting and maybe something else.

“Ryder! Perfect timing. You saved me a trouble of looking for you.” Reyes is in his usual politely playful mood. She can play along with that.

“Should I go? You look like a type who enjoys the chase.”

He chuckled. It seems like his common reaction on anything he finds even slightly amusing.

“Looks can be deceiving. I’m too shy for that nonsense.”

Sara wants to roll her eyes, really wants, but she holds it back.

“Oh yeah. A real introvert. So, what did you need me for?”

His chuckle sounds again, creating the awkwardness she doesn’t want to be there between them. Thankfully Reyes explains before she has to ask.

Zia Cordier did steal from Reyes Vidal a cargo he was transporting for a client. Not even a scrap of knowledge about what was inside, which improves Sara’s mood a bit. Honor, it seemed, if a paid for, is not a completely foreign concept for the smuggler.  
In the course of the next investigation they do together she figured that this business with Zia is not just a simple theft. If she was his girlfriend she probably holds a grudge…or several. Sara herself never got too serious with anybody to have any hard feelings when they cheated or left. She just bade them farewell, heaviness of which depended on what they had done and if it pissed her off. Revenge is too villainous, too time-consuming for her mind which is always striving for action right away, for a future she and others picture for themselves.

“Is this job about getting your cargo back, or about upping an ex?” – she asks him while they are drinking their whiskey at the bar after digging out some new information.

“Why, Ryder, are you jealous?” he inquires in return.

She empties her second glass.

“Never got to that. But I could try.” 

His smile is just at the corner of his mouth, but it is there nonetheless. 

“Maybe later.” he finishes his drink. “It’s about the cargo. Give me a call when you get to the spot.”

Sara’s omni-tool beeps confirming the transferring info. 

“Deal.”

Reyes is already inside when they finish all the runs from one point to another. Easy when you don’t have to scan half of the wastelands for his missing cargo. At least she will have a cut from it, 40 something percent, she isn’t sure. To give it to the medical labs to ensure the low rate of mortality from the local natural phenomena. It came to Eos from time to time and scared everybody living there to the point of home vigils. 

Zia is at the spot, not alone, hunting to kill a rival smuggler who got his hands on the most profitable channels. Or more like revenging Reyes for being a selfish bastard. But isn’t it her fault not seeing it in a first place?  
“Reyes is a better man than you think.” the words are faster than her mind that seemed to suggest the exact opposite.

“Oh, honey. You’ve no idea how wrong you are. But you will.” Zia’s confidence does not suit her well. Maybe because it isn’t confidence but a simple anger that shimmered in her. Sara knows the end of the story already.

SAM, biotic profile.

_Switching profiles._

“Leave her out of this.” Reyes’s anger is not at all like Zia’s. It was more like fire when hers is stone cold. Still, both of them would leave this place in ruins.

“You must really like this one, Reyes.” Venom in her tone could rival the acid lakes on the planet.

“Cut the shit, what’s this really about?” 

Sara knows what it was about before she hears the answer. Obviously greed, in combination with a hurt pride, could do wonders. If Ryder and the team weren’t here, Reyes would be a dead man by now. Biotic shield comes up faster than any bullets, saving them from the fire just in time to find cover. She holds Zia as a main target – too easy target, for her taste – and shoots her dead in a first minute when she is trying to get to the spot where Vidal was holding his position.

He thanks Pathfinder later. For help and for thinking of him as a better man, like it is an impossible effort to think so of him. Sara isn’t quick to judge anybody – unless they are shooting at her or trying to bury her under a pile of useless papers and conversations – and getting on her good side is easiest thing ever. At least she thinks so, being good friend with the whole Tempest team.

It takes Sara a month to deal with all stuff on Voeld – running up and down the snow pikes, setting forward stations, fighting kett, and communicating with the Angara. Rest is pitifully short and even heaters can’t set the air temperature to the comfortable level. She ends up sleeping in a Nomad, with its climate control and stable environment. 

Resetting vaults does not help much. It does make everything less windy and less cold but still too cold for the colonists to settle. They made an outpost and she was surprised when somebody decided to come there.  
Reyes gives her a call when she finally gets back to the Tempest. 

After all the chasing for enemies and stable heat sources she is more than happy to remember sunny and hot Kadara. And to attend some thug party. As Reyes informed her Sloane is hosting parties every now and then, to please certain high society personas, and he needed a plus one there. Coming with Reyes was better than just that – it means nothing less than some shady business going right in front of her own eyes. She was never interested in criminal activities, but fun is fun as long as there are no dead bodies on the ground.

“I’d never say no to free drinks.”

So they go. With nothing major going on, Sloane’s Outcasts standing outside and inside, not bothering the guests, but still visible. Reyes says a few words and walks around without an explanation. Whatever he is planning –she was more than sure from the second they crossed the threshold, he is up to something – Sara decides to give him time. At least until she is bored with everything to a point of shooting Sloane in the knee. Keema is a charming one to talk to, so she proceeds with her to the farthest window.

“Have you seen Reyes?” His friend and his colleague – angara should definitely know something about his notions.

“No. But I’m sure he’ll be back soon. He likes you.” Angara continued sipping her champagne with very delicate gestures. Not a sign she plays along with him in his games.

“I’ve gotten that impression.” And she appreciates it as well. 

“And he thinks he’s so subtle.” Keema continues after another sip.

“I rather wish he was not.” Three glasses are more than enough for today – her conscience and SAM told her that much. She is going to find Reyes wherever he is.

_I believe he was headed into one of the side rooms when we arrived, Pathfinder._

Sara enjoys the sight of Reyes desperately trying to find something around the crates in Sloane’s stocks for a minute, until she makes her presence clear. Her quirked eyebrow should tell him everything he needs to know about her attitude for this moment.

“Whatever you are searching for, make sure I have a share in it.” 

Reyes steps away from the crates, a bit spooked but not to the point where he can’t control himself.

“Ryder! It’s not what it looks like!”

“Enlighten me.” she can’t keep her humor to herself. Her tone is as cold as an iceberg but inside she is giggling at the smuggler’s attempt to save situation. 

It does not come to the point of explanation because suddenly there are specific noises coming from the hall. 

“Shit. Someone’s coming. We need a distraction.”

She can work with it and she did. Her lips are on his in a matter of seconds, not hungry, not yet, but still demanding, asking. It takes a whole minute for guard to go away.

“I think we’re in the clear.” He says as he looked behind her shoulder.

“Are you sure?” her hands still on him, ready for another round.

He chuckles instead of an answer. She laughs out and continues smiling, as he climbs on the crate to retrieve something. Which turns out to be a bottle of 645 years old whiskey. 

“I hope you’re planning on sharing.” This man knows all the fine ways to live – she does not need any more proof of it. 

“Heh, We’ll see. Let’s get out of here.”

They run away, their hands together and heart rate is probably higher than usual. Sara likes it a lot – this kind of life – only a bit more honest and selfless, but still with the same thrill.

She and Reyes end up on one of the roofs of Kadara port, looking at houses beneath them, at the beautiful sunset. In the moments like this she likes only to feel it, not thinking. Reyes passes her a bottle, settling himself in a more comfortable position, their spines touching.

“Gorgeous, isn’t it. I sometimes forget.” Reyes’s voice pushes her out of the trance she doesn’t even realize she was in. Moments so perfect are the rarest type here. In Milky Way too. She doesn’t want to lose it, but Reyes is the part of this moment too, the reason she has it.

“Is Andromeda everything you hoped it would be?” He askes.

“It is, actually. More possibilities, more fun. Even my nights off are interesting.” She gives back a bottle, enjoying the taste on her tongue, realizing that this would be the last time she drinks something from long-forsaken galaxy that tastes so good even after the journey. 

“And what about you? Why did you come here, Reyes?” she lookes at him, just a glance, but enough to want to linger a bit. He takes a sip from the bottle.

“To be someone.”

“You are someone to me.” She answers without thinking, now half turned toward him, looking at his face brightened by the orange light of the sun. 

“I’m starting to think that kiss was more than just a distraction.” he reaches for her cheek and slowly gets her into the kiss, leading but still letting her move if she wants to. She likes it – the way he behave with her, the way he kisses. She likes the thrill, but sometimes she can be persuade for a bit of romantic. 

“That could be far more than that.” She leans into him, getting her body fully on the rooftop, with Reyes’s under hers. That’s enough romantic for her: they can sit there, look at the sunset, but right now this opportunity would have bored the hell out of her. 

He doesn’t let her have a dominant position for long – one quick move and she is the one pinned to the metal, Reyes’s lips inches from her own. Her arm is in the air without anything to support her and that makes Sara initiate the kiss. She is so close to the edge of the roof that it is dangerous to move. She is sure the he would not let her fall, but still, how sure, exactly? She doesn’t know him that much, not as a person she would trust to cover her on the field full of outnumbering enemies. But that makes the intimacy much more exciting for her. She doesn’t let him in, just shows him the antechambers.

They are on the roof long enough for crew to start wondering, but SAM is a clever AI to deal with any distractions they might cause. For tonight Sara Ryder wanted a high quality whisky and a hot man to be the only things to think about or just feel. First perfect night in Andromeda. 

She kisses him goodbye and climbs down to the street, not looking back, wondering if he is still looking at her from the roof, enjoying the view. She knows she would.  
Pathfinder quarters feel a bit sterile after Kadara port and all its lights and noises. She looks at the blue sphere of SAM, debating if she should ask him again the same question about Scott, but decides just to wait. Her sleep is not as peaceful as she wishes it would be, full of Alec’s moments and Scott – lost on Habitat 7, desperately trying to come back to them. 

“I will not let you down.” she is saying to herself. Nothing scares her – for every enemy she has a big gun and a company of a krogan – but the thought of Scott being dead without even waking up. Or waking up to die shortly after. She saw the last moments of her father. Her mother’s last goodbye to them. Of all the things, she does not want the shy smile her brother gave her before they set into the pods to be the last. 

Her terminal light is flickering when she gets up. It is time to save the galaxy, to find home, to feed hope that is now shines brighter and brighter, but not stable. Not until they find a place that can provide enough resources for all species, native Andromeda including. 

Transponder gave the location, new point to up their game with the kett and find a way to stabilize the worlds under the vaults control. They make it in and out with the bonus in a shape of krogan scouts from the Nakmor clan. There is a matter of kett transmitter in Sara’s bloodstream, but she could live with it as long transmitter does not give her any physical trouble. Pathfinder Raeka is dead, and this fact bothers Sara more than she would admit.  
It was a difficult choice Ryder, but you won an important victory. The Archon has been delt a blow.

She isn’t sure it matters at the moment. Archon is a terrible arrogant enemy still playing with them, making any species fallen into his hands into his kind. She isn’t sure about Raeka’s fate and doesn’t want to think about the fact that the salarian Pathfinder might end up in the cells ready for exaltation. 

_Your father would be proud._

“This does not matter for sure, SAM.” she blurts angrily at AI for mentioning Alec, who, no doubt would find the decision very easy to make. Sara has no desire to think about bright and bold father in the moments like these. It makes her feel weak.  
Unsurprisingly after all she and her crew were through the Nexus leadership still is able to give her a headache. They say no to her mission for Meridian, no matter that the outpost they decided to concentrate on is her own effort, not theirs. The only thing they did was giving her a ship to fly. To do their dirty work for them so they could easily shove her out of the way as things came back to normal. She hasn’t been this furious in a 600 years. Even Pathfinders who are all on her side do not shift her mood.

_There is good news, Sara._

Tann’s secretary demanded her attention seconds after SAM.

“Pathfinder, there was an urgent message for you – they said your brother is awake.”

“What?!” Sara isn’t sure she heard her right. But the Pathfinders are there too. And they did.

“Go. We’ll talk later in a Tech Lab.”

Sara is running through the corridors of Nexus, not seeing anything or anybody. Somebody calling her, asking if everything is all right, muttering something not pleasant. She does not care and does not stop for a second, flying into Hyperion medbay to find Scott sitting on his bed. Not lying unconsciously, like a vegetable with strong vitals. He is here, smiles when he noticed his sister and that sets her running right into his arms.

“Easy, easy, he needs to gather his strength.” Harry is nearby monitoring family reunion. 

“I can handle the strength part for now.” she mutters into her brother’s shoulder. “I sure missed having you around. We’ve hit a few rough patches along the way.”

“And I have heard you are Great and Honorable madam Pathfinder.” his quite voice with a bit of a laugh makes her let him go and sit beside him. 

“Like I wasn’t already Great and Honorable.” she pars, smiling.

“In an area of troublemaking?” 

She punched him slightly in the ribs, amazed at how badly she actually missed him.

“Soon as I get my gear we’ll..” he tries to stand but it comes out wobbly. In a moment Sara is near him, ready to catch if she needs to.

“No way you are fit for duty, Sir. You need time to mend.” Harry is near the bed almost as fast as she.

“I didn’t get anything that needs mending.” Scott raises his eyes to the doctor, as in a silent ask, did he.

“Just rest a bit longer, Scott, I promise to get you out on the ride to the most beautiful places in Heleus.” she holds her hand before him, so he would not argue. He knows himself it is for the best. 

“For that I require a really good bedtime story, sis.” he takes a horizontal position, ready, his eyes gleaming “Tell me everything.”

This is the moment she was looking forward to. So she does.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Scott's POV
> 
> Thanks again to phocavolans to deal with my broken language.
> 
> And thank you for reading.

4/

 

Scott awakening in Andromeda was a pleasant one until he had a word with doctor Carlyle and then his sister.

It turned out everything went to hell, including his father, who always liked dramatic entrances. And now he had a dramatic exit too. Hero for nobody but his family and the people who knew what this choice was about. 

He can’t blame him. Not when Sara is sitting next to him, alive and cheerful, enthusiastic as always about adventures in the new galaxy. He saved her life and gave her a chance to tame Andromeda by herself. To be the first to lay a path and the first to walk through. 

He can’t forgive him either. For leaving them like this, last part of the family who even remotely knew what he was doing, on or off duty.For never saying ‘goodbye’ and never giving a wise encouragement. Never giving Scott a chance to create something new with unknown resources of distant unexplored planets together with his father. It stung right through the heart, leaving Scott quiet while listening to Sara’s stories.

There were some parts of the story that shone with the thrill and excitement, and there were ones that stank of grief. She told him every little detail, words and expressions, everything he needed and did not need to know.

About the Angara.

And kett.

And Reyes Vidal.

“Only you could have such fun in the middle of the disaster” he says to her, amused. There is another day, and Sara just came back from this planet in Govorkan system who is apparently making out with his sister from time to time. 

She rolls her eyes.

“Only you wouldn’t,” she says “If only you saw him. He is a 10+”

Scott gives out a laugh at the memory. When they were in high school they used to give a rating to every hot boy they saw. Most of the time they did not agree on that, but sometimes there was ‘this one guy’ who gave them the same desires and then they couldn’t stop themselves. Sara always got them, even just for sport, or to gloat about it to Scott after. He never ever tried to beat her. He had little interest in relationships and even lessin being humiliated.

He knew the odds.

Still knows them.

“Your 10+ or my 10+?” he asks.

She chuckles, standing up, agitated to show him something. She clicked on her omni-tool and the picture appears. And moves.

“Always a pleasure,” the man says, voice that made Scott come closer to make out an image in the static “but to what do I owe it?” 

She chuckles again, looks at Scott who appears to be a little lost and confused. He did not expect something like this, but his sister enjoys such impulsive movements enormously.

“Nothing major,” she answers with a wave of her hand. “Forgot how you look like, I suppose.”

Scott’s smile at this one is precious. He missed Sara and her swag, no surprise she got the gorgeous man to herself. Even with the static all over the image, it is clear enough that she did not lie. And this is where they agree with each other once again.

“Should I send you a picture? I have a lot of..good ones.”

It is going somewhere Scott does not want to be present. He feels strangely annoyed and in the same time interested. He sees how Sara bites her lip looking at him, smiling.

“Save them. I prefer the real thing.” she blows a kiss to her omni-tool and breaks the connection.

“I told…” she started.

He doesn’t let her finish,

“Yeah, I know, I know.” But something was wrong with whole conversation, invisible and subtle, it stuck in Scott’s brain, making sure he would not forget that.

Sara sits beside him again, half-hugging him.

“If he sends something I’ll give you a look,” she says giggling. 

“Oh God, Sara,” he does not really want to see it.

“For real, just get better and I show you Kadara port and Slumps and all beyond. You’ll love it.” she squeezes his arm and tugs him up a bit to emphasize.

“I am looking forward to seeing the beauty of Andromeda.”

***  
He did not expect to miss much. It never was his intention to stay in Hyperion medbay for long when his sister was doing all the job, risking her life without solid backup. Scott does not doubt loyalty of the Tempest crew. The thing is, they are not her family, and friendship always only goes to the certain extent. He does not want to push the luck, as he knows that Sara often push hers. 

“I am fine,” he says to doctor Carlyle every time the man checks his systems.

I can go have an adventure, and have my sister’s back, and some research station all for myself, he wants to say.

There is little he can do to sway Harry Carlyle. His intentions, no matter how honorable will stay just that if he can’t be proved fully competent to perform on the level that would not hurt him permanently.

The problem is, Scott never has been very familiar with his own limitations. While Sara was a hot head – do it and let it pass – he became so fixated on things, at the same time not letting them to swallow him entirely in one piece.

This was also the reason he wanted to get out of Nexus – not to become obsessed with small details of machinery all over the place. He sorted out half of medical stuff, nicking it one by one and putting it together again fully operational as he took it. Or even better. 

Two months were stretching longer than the whole trip to Andromeda, leaving Scott Ryder itchy and nervous, without any help from fellow patients to entertain his restless mind. Most of them were military, some from engineering, several scientists from different area of expertise. Doctor Carlyle couldn’t chat with him all the time, but their occasional conversations were the only things that were keeping the Ryder child sane. 

“No surprise. You are Alec’s children after all,” he cracked a smile, patting Scott’s shoulder and then leaving him again to the boring routine of the medbay. 

Finally it got the best of Scott, and common sense was forgotten as well. He just stood up and walked out without a word. Took a cart to the Commons, searching for a place to settle down until doctor Carlyle came back and started searching for his wayward patient. It was infuriating for him as well – the unreasonable amount of care he was under from the person considered the friend of the family for many years. More to Sara and their dad than to Scott himself. 

He knew that his sister had a room on Nexus, empty now, as she and her team traveling through space. And he knew the override codes. It took less than a minute to enter the room and seal the door behind, making himself comfortable among Sara’s things. His things as well.

He is save now. Not from the dangers of outer worlds but from his own boredom slowly burrowing through his brain to the point of inadequacy. He clicks on his omni-tool.

_I am using your apartment. I know you don’t mind. Find me here when you are on Nexus. Stay safe._

_P.S. don’t tell Harry._

Last thing he wants is Sara worrying about his whereabouts as doctor Carlyle, no doubt, will inform her about him being missing. 

He sits down on the couch. There is a lot of things in the room reminding him of the old days, putting him in an unfamiliar and uncomfortable nostalgic mood. Letting him sink into the memories of him and Sara and their mother in the halls of the Citadel, excited, happy, and very young. Not knowing much about the world but still being fascinated by it. 

As Scott grew older he got to know a lot of amazing things that made his heart tremble in some crazy enthusiasm, but he never showed it, as Sara was always loud about her preferences. He also acknowledged things that broke his heart beyond any restoration. Or it seemed that way back then.

His eyes found an old scanning machine, maybe as old as he is now – 600-something is quite an age, even for a krogan. His hands find it soon enough, and that keeps his mind occupied, until the loud beep in a silent room pinches through his concentration.

Incoming call.

He has no intention to pick it up, but what if it’s something important, - a distress call or some kind of emergency message. He hits the button on the console sooner than he realizes who is on the line.

“Didn’t know thieves pick up calls in apartments they are stealing from.” the voice is familiar but he couldn’t put it together with any person he knows. He is not sure if he met someone with the face like the one on the screen either.

“Funny,” Scott cuts off, looking darkly and not at all amused, “What’s the business with my sister?” 

The man chuckles and looks away for the moment. He, on the other hand, finds it immensely amusing, squinting his golden eyes in return.

“Scott Ryder. I may say I am impressed by such boldness. Your sister always assumed you were a shy type,” his eyes are piercing Scott’s, but neither of them are prepared to lose this little fight of characters. He knows who this man is, without delving into the past of their family. 

“Reyes Vidal. Not impressed. Answer the question.” 

Scott did not expect such a mean attitude of himself as well, but something in the man before him made everything difficult and strained, made Ryder’s tounge sharp with retorts.

“Just checking in, as a dutiful boyfriend” Vidal’s smile feels like metal of the barrel. His eyes…that is a different story. Something in them makes Scott wait a moment before answering to his sister’s boyfriend with a full force of his sarcasm:

“I will tell her about your call.”

He hangs up a second after the last word is uttered. Not letting Reyes continue this useless conversation. If something was worth the attention the man would bring it up immediately. Wasting his time on words with little to no meaning was never Scott’s favorite thing to do. He comes back to the scanner he put aside, then to the portative laser charger, then to the gun itself. It takes time to remember the weight and the form of the weapon, with damning realization how out of shape he really is. To help his sister on her way he needs to be at his sharpest and brightest, which now he is not, thanks to doctor’s fussing over him for the past two months. 

He isn’t angry, not really, mostly because he knows the necessity of long recovery period in his case. He recognizes the concern too. But he is a Ryder, and setting pride aside to succumb to common sense is not his strong suit, so he is here to at least remember the basics. He raises the gun, calibrating, aiming, calibrating again. Calm and control – real treat to him after a disturbing chat that left his mind floating.

Reyes Vidal is his sister’s boyfriend, as many before him, and he is as good as any of them. Confident beyond measure. Intelligent though. Charming. Really handsome also. Still arrogant and full of himself. That’s all the information he has collected about him during their small word game on vidcom. And he cares for her. That was the thing Scott picked up as well. And listed in the category of good traits for this person he never actually met.

So he decided to let it be. And not to interfere with Sara’s fun.

Scott falls asleep still holding a gun.

***

 

It takes effort not to groan when somebody is shaking him to consciousness. He does anyway, as his eyes fling open to reveal the disturber who smiles at him almost sadistically. 

“Rise and shine” Sara gets her hands off him only to give him a punch into the sensitive stomach. Scott’s effort to answer that ends up in him laying on the floor, sobbing soundlessly. She picks him up and smooched his cheek with passion. 

“Harry is going to kill me for hiding you, and it’s your fault.” she is tired, and Scott can see it in her eyes, half closed as she is on the floor next to him, leaning on the couch. 

“I couldn’t stay there any longer,” he says seriously. “I am sorry.”

It isn’t a real apology, but real enough for Sara to smile again lazily, looking him up and down.

“You seem fine to me,” she says in conclusion. Silence between them falls while Scott is trying to find the right words to excuse his childish runaway. He never was a reckless type, but Andromeda seems to form new kind of habits in all of the newcomers. He can just hope it will be for the good. If only he could leave this goddamn station.

“Take me away from here. I beg you.” his voice is begging too. His hands land on the gun once again, clenching familiar mechanism. He knows how it works from the charge forming to the after shot cooling, knows every reaction inside the very core of the beam. It does help that his biotics are on point as it always was – the source of his pride and Sara’s envy.

Sara’s silence takes place in his hollow hopes, filling them with unusual tension. Thoughts are clearly visible on her face – concern and fear – something haunting here after they said goodbyes to each other in medbay. Now, sitting in her room, she has a lot to think about, and he can’t blame her for it. All this time it was her responsibility to hold things together, finding a way to survive in the wasteland of corrupted planets, take care of any danger coming their way. As much as he wished otherwise, he was not there for her, only adding to her fears. 

“Okay.” she says at least. Scott’s heart sings at that answer.

“But you need to stay on the Tempest under Lexi’s control.” the surprising addition.

He could not believe these are her words he is hearing. The words of the girl who was coming home at nights when their mom was already asleep, and wade into his room for a helping hand. All beaten up and scarred by only god knows what or who. Scott always had a pack of medi-gel for the nights like that. And clear bandages. Sara always found a way to hide her battles from Ellen, but never from Scott. She tugged him along wherever she could. Now he just felt abandoned and useless, sticking to the safe routs of Andromeda.

This galaxy changed Sara Ryder. Be it a new role she was forced into or new group of friends she stuck on the same ship for months – he will never know. He looks at her with the same eyes, inexperienced in the challenges of lost hopes and immediate decisions. He is no better than a child to her, a little brother indeed. 

He does not like that idea of staying behind. No matter what happens with his view of this world after weeks and months in here, he is okay with the change. He is up to it, since the moment he went to sleep on Hyperion in Milky Way. 

“Oh, don’t give me this kicked puppy look,” she is up on her feet, pacing, giving him one of her looks. “It’s going to be fun anyway.”

‘For how long?’ he wants to ask. For how long he has to be a lucky charm for their adventures. He says nothing of it.

“Your boyfriend called,” changing of the subject is the best strategy in almost every troubled conversation.

She stops and squints at him suspiciously. He might have wanted to run, if not the smile ghosting on the corners of her lips. 

“Reeeaally? And you picked up?” she asks but does not wait for an answer “bullshit, Scott, you could come with more creative subject changer”. 

His brows go up without any effort. She does not believe him…why.

“Checked on you probably. Or so he said”

She stops smiling in one moment. Frown comes instead. And the stare searching for a lie in his gesture.

“Does not sound like him. But fine.” she stands right above Scott, giving him a hand to get up. “I believe you.”

Her pull puts him on his feet, puts them on the same eye level with the different attitude.

“He is an annoying bastard,” Scott says to his sister “but I know, it’s your type.”

She flashes a smile fresh and innocent to him.

“Sure it’s not yours as well?”

Scott is ready to groan and he does, with eye rolling to the ceiling.

“I talked to him for a minute and that’s a sure no,” a sure ‘I don’t want to do it again’.

The smile on her lips still lingers when she escorts her brother out of the room. It takes little to sway Scott in right direction, straight to the docks and the Tempest itself. To the beauty of the unknown world.


End file.
